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Book Reviews and Writing Tips

Sunday, February 22, 2015

I’ve had The Thorn Birds for a while but I picked it up
again a couple of weeks ago and started reading it in my ‘chill out’
times. I forgot what a great story this
is. I can hardly put the book down at
night to go to bed.

Yes, I should be working on my book, but I’ve been gathering
things for taxes, trying to work out computer issues, keeping the house
spotless so we can show it at any time, and dealing with a couple of personal
issues concerning close friends. All I
have time for lately is a little reading before bed.

The Thorn Birds was published in 1977 and probably breaks
the rules concerning literature today.
There’s not much dialogue in numerous places and lots of descriptions
and back story. Personally I find all
this interesting and it doesn’t put me off the story much. I do wish it had more dialogue though instead
of internal thoughts. Still, it’s a
classic so this author did something right.
You should read this book if you haven’t yet, or if it’s been a long
time since you held it in your hands.

My copy is a hard cover book printed on very old paper, the
kind that isn’t even on the outer edges.
This only adds to the charm. I
love to hold a physical book when I read.
Does anyone else own actual books anymore, or is everything you read on
kindle these days?

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Oh yes…that thing we must all do if we’re writers and hope
to finish anything we’re working on.
Sometimes this is harder to do than you think, unless you’ve been there
yourself. Any art takes a lot of brain
power and imagination.

I find that reading helps if I’m at a loss for where to go
next. Picking up a book in the same
genre as my WIP seems to jumpstart my batteries and gets my mind going
again. There are a few things I’ve
discovered through my reading, not only in novels but also literary magazines
and self-help books that I think will apply to any genre.

Don’t be Boring. Keep
something happening. Think about reading
the book you’re writing as a reader, not an author. Is it interesting? If not, how can you change it? Maybe the action doesn’t start until the
second page. Can you switch it around
and put that part first? If necessary,
read some opening lines of novels you have in your home library.

Grab the reader by the throat. What kind of action can you devise for your
protagonist that would put them in physical or emotional jeopardy? Never start any novel with a description of
the weather or anything else mundane.

Give your protagonist a purpose to get involved in the
conflict. With crime novels, remember a
killer never kills because they are mad.
There’s always another reason.
It’s the same with any genre.
There is usually a hidden reason behind the actions of the antagonist
that will be discovered throughout the course of the story. Everyone has an agenda.

Characters shouldn’t be likeable. They should be real, like people in ordinary
life. How many of us know someone that
is perfect? We all have our flaws, even
when we’re basically likeable. We all
know liars and cheaters, scoundrels and bitches, unsure people in our lives, or
we’ve crossed paths with such people in the past. Maybe these people make some bad choices
because they’re only trying to fit in.
Go there in your mind and use this knowledge when molding your
characters. The readers will have empathy
for your flawed characters because they can be damaged and likeable.

Endings should be a slap in the face and something the
reader didn’t see coming. The whole
novel is important, but beginnings and endings are super important. The reader should feel satisfied with the way
the story ended, but at the same time surprised at how it ended.

Experience what life is about so you can use it in your
writing. I’m talking about the things we
all face as human beings – accomplishment and disappointment, anger and joy,
heartbreak and excitement. Dig deep into
your soul and bring up these feelings so they flood onto the page in the words
you type.

Know what your story is about. This isn’t the elevator pitch you ramble off
when someone asks you about your book.
This is deeper than that. What
does your story mean to you? What does
it say about the world as viewed through your eyes? Something buried in our subconscious drives
us to get up early and/or stay up late typing at the keyboard on our WIP. What is at the heart of our story? Is it anger or sadness? What drives the protagonist and
antagonist? Are they seeking justice, revenge,
or something else? If we can find it, we
can classify and expand upon it and make our WIP’s killer novels one day.

Saturday, February 14, 2015

I ran across some interesting pieces about the origin of
this holiday. I thought I’d share this
from an NPR article from 2011.

Valentines Day, like so many holidays we celebrate, began as
a pagan feast, this particular holiday the Roman feast of Lupercalia. This celebration was held between the
thirteenth and fifteenth of February every year.

The Roman men, drunk and naked, would kill a goat or dog and
then whip the women with the hides thinking this would increase fertility. Believe it or not, the women would line up to
be whipped by the men. Hmmm…maybe this
was a highlight back in the day. I
imagine regular life was mundane and villagers looked forward to all the
festivals.

This feast also included a lottery where young men would
draw women’s names out of a jar. The
couples would be matched up for the duration of the festival, or longer if it
was a good match.

Later on, in the third century, and in two different years,
Emperor Claudius II executed two men on February fourteenth, both named Valentine. I’m not sure what these men did to lead to
this kind of punishment, but the Catholic Church honored these martyrs by
celebrating St. Valentine’s Day.

In the fifth century, things were changed again when Pope Gelasius
I combined Valentine’s Day with Lupercalia in order to abolish the pagan
celebration. The festival remained a
drunken revelry, only now the Christians wore clothes. It was still a day of fertility and love.

The holiday grew sweeter as the years went by with writers
romancing it in their work. In the
middle ages the first Valentine’s Day cards appeared. Cards were handmade until the tradition made
its way to the New World where factory-made
cards were generated in the nineteenth century.

Today this holiday, like most of them we celebrate, is big
business with all sorts of things appearing in the stores way before the actual
holiday. In 2012 more than $18 billion
was spent on Valentine’s Day purchases.
Today we buy jewelry, flowers, chocolates, stuffed animals and other
trinkets for our beloved on this day of love.
Even single people buy themselves gifts.

It makes one wonder if anyone still celebrates as the old
Romans did.

What are you doing for Valentine’s Day? Is it a holiday you celebrate?

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

It’s been fifty-five years since To Kill a Mockingbird was published, earning this first time author
a Pulitzer Prize. Now, at eighty-eight a
second book will be published in July of this year. Go Set
a Watchman is a book written before To
Kill a Mockingbird, but taking place twenty years later when Scout is grown
and goes home to visit her father.

Once home in Maycomb, Scout grapples with personal and
political issues as she attempts to understand her father’s attitude toward
society. She also struggles with her own
feelings about her childhood and where she was born. The book will feature many characters from
the first book.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

I’ve been thinking about book covers lately because I will
be in need of one sometime this year for my new mystery book. First, I have to buckle down and finish the
rewrites. But I have something
particular in mind for this book of mine, which lead me to look up, supposedly,
the best covers of 2014.

I’m posting some links here so anyone that cares to can look
at these covers for themselves. I don’t
mean to be critical because surely the New York Times, Paste Magazine and Print Magazine should know what a good book cover looks like. But I have to be truthful about my opinion of
these covers. If I saw any of these
books on a bookshelf in the bookstore, I probably wouldn’t pick up any of them.

When a book cover is supposed to be important and the first
thing a potential buyer sees, how did these slip by? I couldn’t tell you what any of these books
are about when looking at the cover alone.
I hope they did a better job with the blurb on the back.

The next group are covers that won awards for the best e-book designs for 2014. These are a little more
imaginative.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is writing a Sherlock Holmes novel with
a co-author. The book will focus on
Sherlock’s older brother, Mycroft, and is due out in the fall, published by
Titan Books.

The New York Times carried this story a couple of weeks
ago. It looks like if one is a celebrity
it’s easy to get a book deal. I hope it
will be a good book. Kareem says he’s
been interested in Sherlock Homes since the 1970’s when he encountered a book
featuring Sherlock’s older brother. At
that time, he thought the character could be expanded on because he was older,
smarter and working in the highest level of the British government.

The story, titled Mycroft
Holmes, will be set in England
and Trinidad.
Mycroft is a recent university graduate and now working for the British
Secretary of State for War. He learns
from a friend that troubling events are occurring in Trinidad
– dead children, mysterious disappearances and strange backward-facing
footprints in the sand. He goes to Trinidad to investigate, and to follow his fiancé who was
raised there.

I like Sherlock Holmes and this plot sounds interesting. We’ll see.
Comments welcome.

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Welcome to my Ramblings

I may chat about my books, what I'm writing or reading, or just general thoughts about writing and publishing. Comments are welcome, if anyone wants to interact with me. I'd like to hear about your writing and publishing experiences.